


Falling For You

by sterica



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 5 + 1, Inspired by PINOF7, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-06 22:51:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5433791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sterica/pseuds/sterica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>There’s a look of surprise on Dan's face, then terror, as the chair falls backwards with him in it. The Skype window is now just showing Dan’s wall. </i><br/><i> “Dan?” Phil calls. “Are you okay?” </i><br/><i>“If you don’t count my dignity.” comes the disgruntled response from the floor. “I might just lie here forever.” </i><br/><br/>Five times Phil watches Dan fall and one time he catches him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling For You

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: dan and phil are real people and this is fiction. cool.

i. **2009**

Phil is sat back on his bed, his laptop balanced on his legs. Skype is open; he’s waiting for a notification to tell him that Dan is online. They’ve been texting throughout the day and they’ve agreed upon Skyping at this time, but Dan is five minutes late. It’s not unlike Dan to be a few minutes late, but Phil is impatient today: he has something he wants to talk to him about. Instead of even pretending to do something productive while he’s waiting, Phil just stares at the screen as though it will make Dan’s face appear more quickly.

‘ _dan is online_ ’. The notification pops up. Phil briefly entertains the idea of not seeming like the clingiest person alive by not immediately calling him, but three seconds have barely passed before he clicks the ‘call’ icon. He feels a little less pathetic when Dan answers immediately.

“Hey.” Dan says, smiling as his rooms pops into view. He’s in black today, a colour that Phil likes on him. He makes a mental note to tell the younger boy so he’ll keep wearing it. Dan’s sitting on a computer chair, his laptop on his desk.

“I have something I wanted to ask you.” Phil says, deciding to jump straight into the conversation. He’s jigging his knee, he’s so excited and nervous that he can’t keep still. If he doesn’t ask this question soon, he’s going to burst.

“What is it?” Dan asks. He seems interested, but not like he thinks it’s going to be anything life changing. Phil hopes that what he’s asking is going to be something life changing. Dan’s rocking slightly in his computer chair, something that seems precarious but Phil has brought it up enough times that he doesn’t see the point in mentioning it again.

“Do you want to meet me?” Phil says. “You could come to Manchester.”

The words come out just as Dan is leaning back again. There’s a look of surprise on his face, then terror, as the chair falls backwards with Dan in it. The Skype window is now just showing Dan’s wall.

“ _Dan_?” Phil calls. “Are you okay?”

“If you don’t count my dignity.” comes the disgruntled response from the floor. “I might just lie here forever.”

“Does that mean you’re not coming to Manchester?” Phil asks, half joking, half worried that if he doesn’t bring it up again it will be like the topic never came up. He doesn’t want this idea to disappear.

Dan seems reluctant to stay on the floor after that, jumping up and bringing the chair with him. “Of course I want to come to Manchester.” he says, almost breathless as he settles back down into his chair.

“You do?” Phil asks. He wants to be sure before he gets his hopes up.

“It’s a nice city.” Dan says. “Great museums, good food…” he trails off. “And there’s you. I want to come to Manchester to meet you.”

Phil smiles. “You know, my parents are going away for the week next month. You could come then.”

Dan’s cheeks go red. “You’re lucky I wasn’t swinging on my chair when you said that. I would’ve fallen again.”

“You could almost say that you’re _falling for me_.” Phil says, laughing that laugh that he does when he knows his joke is so unfunny that it almost works.

Dan glares at him. “My pain is not funny, Phil.”

There’s a look in his eyes that says the unspoken: I _am_ falling for you. Neither of them acknowledge it, but it’s floating around for the rest of the conversation. They know what the other is thinking: meeting isn’t just a small thing. Meeting each other in Manchester is going to be their first date. Phil almost feels like he’s falling when he thinks about kissing Dan, thinks he might fall when their lips touch for the first time.

Phil doesn’t stop smiling even after he’s hung up.

* * *

ii. **2010**

Phil is expecting to hear from Dan soon. He’s due to move into his university accommodation today, and Phil is pretty sure that as soon as the Howell family have left him to it, Dan is going to need moral support. Phil is pretty glad that Dan is going to university in Manchester; he doesn’t know how he’d cope without him close by. It isn’t long before his phone starts buzzing.

**I literally feel like I’m now living in prison** is the first text that Phil receives on the subject, the second being, **Some of the ppl I’m living with also look like they belong in prison**.

**Want me to come over??** Phil texts him back.

**Now** is the one word response Phil is given.

Managing to pull himself away from aimlessly scrolling through tumblr and into some decent clothes, Phil is at Dan’s new accommodation in less than half an hour. He’d been ready for a cry of help, he just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. When he rings the doorbell, it’s answered by a girl with brown hair who must be one of Dan’s housemates.

“Who are you?” she says, except it’s said in such a tone that it seems like a demand rather than a question.

“Phil. My friend Dan lives here.”

Phil hasn’t given much thought to what he should call Dan to people that they don’t know yet. Dan’s his boyfriend, but they haven’t talked about how open Dan wants to be while he’s at uni. On top of that, they both have youtube to think about. Especially Phil, because even though he thinks his subscribers are brilliant, he isn’t sure if he wants to broadcast his whole life to them. Especially bits like this, because what if it doesn’t work out? It’d be horrible going through that publicly.

The girl seems to not care, seeing as she just leaves him at the door without offering him any direction, so Phil walks down the corridor searching for a hint of Dan. He sees a room with an open door and peers around it, seeing Dan unpacking boxes, currently standing in and around piles of clothes, textbooks and DVDs.

“Dan.” Phil says as he walks in, trying not to startle the other boy.

“Phil.”

The smile on Dan’s face is so telling. He rushes towards Phil, arms outstretched. Phil notices a stack of textbooks right in Dan’s path and is about to yell out a warning when Dan falls flat on his face. There’s a look of surprise again, that Phil can’t help but laugh at loud at. Dan stays on the ground but props himself up on one elbow, looks up at Phil and glares.

“What’s the use in having a boyfriend if they don’t catch you when they fall?” Dan groans.

“I’ll catch you next time.” Phil promises. “I didn’t get much warning.”

He walks over to Dan, pulls him up.

“So… the room is nice.” Phil says in an entirely unconvinced voice. Dan punches him in the arm.

The room isn’t nice but Phil sticks around for a while. He can’t stop himself smiling when Dan introduces Phil to everyone as his boyfriend, holding his hand as they walk into the shared kitchen.

* * *

iii. **2012**

The heat of London in July is sweltering. Phil isn’t that inclined to exercise even when he isn’t already sweating, which makes the climb up what seems like a million flights of stairs to their new apartment, carrying what seems like a million boxes, particularly strenuous. Dan isn’t faring much better, the giveaway being the heavy breathing coming from behind him.

“You alive back there?” Phil calls.

“Barely.” Dan whines. “I don’t think I’ve ever climbed this many stairs in my life.”

Phil snorts, deciding not to reply. He instead keeps himself going up the stairs by thinking of all the memories they’re going to make in this new apartment; their new home. He’s so busy thinking that he almost walks straight into a wall, but he jolts himself out of it in time and makes his way into the empty living room where they’re currently placing all the boxes.

Dan makes a show of collapsing to the floor and holding onto a box as though it's a lifeline. Phil takes pity on him and lies down next to his boyfriend, albeit with more control.

“This is our apartment.” Dan says, with awe in his voice.

“Yeah, we bought it, remember?” Phil says, not quite understanding what Dan’s getting at. “You didn’t hit your head on a box, did you?”

Dan rolls onto his side and grabs Phil’s wrist. “This is our apartment. That we own together. That’s in _London_.” He’s smiling so wide that Phil can’t help but smile back. The man lying next to him is his everything, and they’re living together. Sure, they lived together in Manchester but this feels bigger. This is a move they made together.

They lie there in silence for five more minutes before Phil groans and makes a move. “We’ll be unpacking all day if we take breaks this long in between every box.”

“But the floor’s _comfy_.” Dan complains, although he’s getting up as he says it. “Okay, I can do this.” he says, right before walking into a box and falling on the ground.

Phil can’t hold back the laughter, but he does feel mean doing it. “You okay down there?”

“What have I told you about good boyfriends catching you when you fall?” Dan complains.

“I thought that was in a metaphorical sense…?”

“We’re not focused on the details right now.” Dan says.

With the promise of chocolate and sorting out a WiFi connection as soon as he can, Phil gets Dan up off the floor and back downstairs to finish unpacking their new life.

* * *

iv.  **2013**

After years of being inexplicably tall human beings, Phil knows that he and Dan should come to terms with the fact that they can’t do the things that other people can do. For example, their sofa fits the two of them just fine when they’re both sat upright, is even accommodating when they’re lying side by side, but the inescapable laws of physics do not allow for them to lie down and make out on it. There’s simply too many limbs and too much body taking up too much of the non-existent space. With the added complication of movement, it’s a no go situation. This is a lesson that the sofa has been trying to teach them since its attempting Christening in 2012. It’s a lesson that Phil isn’t sure that the two of them will ever accept.

Except, today might put Dan off this particular activity occurring in this particular location, at least for a while. Phil’s not sure how he’d describe the sight that he sees below him. It’s his boyfriend, that’s one fact that he can get clear immediately. He’s flat on his back on the floor, eyes angled accusatively in Phil’s direction, as though it’s Phil’s fault that he’s got into this position. Okay, so it’s maybe partly Phil’s fault - since he was the one that instigated the kissing - but he refuses to take full responsibility for the fact that, just seconds ago, Dan tried to get out from underneath Phil to take more control and instead ended up on the floor.

There’s a moment of silence before the two of them burst out laughing, Dan giving up the act of being disgruntled. Phil slides off the sofa, grabs Dan’s hand and pulls him up. Smiling, he walks ahead, still holding onto his boyfriend’s hand, leading him to the bedroom.

* * *

 v. **2014**

Phil isn’t really sure what to expect when they start playing Five Nights At Freddy’s for the gaming channel. He’s got to admit, he’s kind of looking forward to Dan’s paranoia at night; after playing scary games or watching horror films, Dan often cuddles closer like he needs Phil’s protection. It isn’t exactly an ordeal for Phil to go through a night of that.

The game is clearly freaking the two of them out, they don’t need to play anything up for the camera. Dan’s screams seem to burn a hole in Phil’s eardrum at parts, but the irrelevant banter makes it worth putting up with. It’s at a point where they’re talking through the game, Dan waffling on about investing in decent cameras, when there’s a hideous jumpscare. Phil isn’t exactly sure what he hears from Dan at that moment, but when he’s looking back at the video later he’s amused to hear the sincerity and shock of Dan’s scream and the aborted ‘f-’ sound that escapes from his mouth. It mingles just perfectly with the sound of the crash landing of Dan, the chair, and a mug of coffee. Honestly, Phil thinks, you just couldn’t make this stuff up. Sometimes he can’t believe this is his life.

“Oh my god-” Phil says, trying to stifle the laugh that threatens to bubble up. “Are you okay?” He should be classed as a saint for not howling with laughter at this, he thinks.

Phil does what he has to do by angling the camera in Dan’s direction and turning the light on so his embarrassing position is fully revealed. He half-apologises later when they’re both getting ready for bed.

“I thought you were supposed to be the clumsy one.” Dan says. “But it’s always me who makes a fool of myself.”

He could comfort his boyfriend, but there’s a lot of truth in what Dan’s saying. He doesn’t say it out loud, because it’s embarrassing, but he’s thinking to himself that Dan may fall a lot but at least he looks cute while he’s doing it.

* * *

& **2015**

When Phil catches Dan during the trust exercise they film for Phil Is Not On Fire 7, the expression of shock on Dan’s face doesn’t escape him.

“You caught me!” Dan exclaims.

“I did!” He doesn’t say it out loud, but he’s saying to himself, _of course I caught you, Dan_. He may not have always physically caught Dan, but he’s always been there when it counts. Now he can truthfully say that he’s stopped Dan from falling both in a literal and metaphorical sense.

That, at least, will be something to placate Dan with when he’s caught eating cereal straight from the box, or when there’s socks left on the coffee table. Of course, even without something to say, Dan never stays mad at Phil for long.

 


End file.
